October 23, 2011

Loved It: Envy by J.R. Ward

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls to save. And a man and a woman treading the lines of danger, desire and deliverance/ As the son of a serial killer, homicide detective Thomas DelVecchio Jr grew up in the shadow of evil. Now, on the knife-edge between civic duty and blind retribution, he atones for the sins of his father. Hired to monitor Veck is Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly, whose interest in Veck is both professional and arousingly personal. But Veck and Sophia have a common interest. He's Jim Herron, a mysterious stranger enlisted to save the soul of a killer's latest victim, one precariously hovering between heaven and hell. Before Herron's job is done, Veck and Sophia will be inexorably drawn into a battle of good against evil, where the risk is nothing less than total damnation.

Fallen Angels Sunday presents﻿

So ENVY picks up from that motel scene in Lover Unleashedwith Old World vamp Xcor and friend, ravishing the bejeezus out of serial killer, David Kroner.

Thomas "Veck" DelVecchio Jr. was at the wrong place at the wrong time when the vampire retribution happened. So to protect their race and identities, his memory about that night was wiped out. Veck being the son of another famous serial killer, has this nagging feeling that he is somehow responsible for Kroner's attack. Might be his alter ego coming out of the trenches? But further investigations exonerated him which led him to meet Sophia Reilly, an Internal Affairs officer who will be more than his temporary field partner while the Kroner case is ongoing.

Meanwhile Jim Heron is still reeling and seething from the soul he lost to Devina in Crave, and is now tearing walls trying to get ahead of the enemy. He struck an unusual deal with the demon herself but knowing Devina, she have something extremely devious up her sleeve that will not only shake Jim's defense but will certainly strain their offense. On top of that, Nigel and Co. are having internal disputes so Jim Heron is practically on his own in this mission.

Oh. My. Fallen. Angel. I wasn't floored by Crave but ENVY more than made up for that! Right off the bat the story builds momentum in the first 50 pages and doesn't let go til the end. Veck is a fascinating hero, his family history alone will set back any therapist years and years of speculation and psych analysis plus his ongoing desire to steer clear form his father's "legacy" and prove that he is nothing like him. Veck is a fascinating character, he has so many layers about him and at one point I was second guessing myself thinking that Devina might win him.

Adrian and Eddie's relationship became more explicit in this one although I wonder what the deal is between these two aside from spending multiple lifetimes together? What exactly did Devina do to Adrian that left him empty and on the brink of death, infected by Devina's "cancer"? I almost lost it like Jim when... SPOILER ALERT!... Eddie fell! He's an angel, how in the world can he die like that? Jim went nuclear when he was't able to save Eddie and Adrian went stoic but I'm betting my last cent that in the coming books, Ad will go apesh*t on Devina once he accepted Eddie's death. That I can't wait to see.

Jim's side project, taking the soul of Sissy Barten (that virgin chick that Devina sacrificed in Covet) back from the demon has made progress. He found her body and my heart broke for Sissy's mother. She became Jim's banner in vanquishing Evil and winning the war. He has still a long way to go before he can retrieve her soul back because Jim is forced to play by the rules while Devina pushes the limits. At the end of the book, Ward threw a curve ball, seems like there will be a rebuttal on Matthias' soul in one of the next books so that will definitely be interesting.

I'm at ends here, I LOVE Ward's men! They are more colorful than a box of 150 colored Crayola. At the same time they are very disturbing so maybe that super latent deviant part of me is responding to her stories. J.R. Ward just writes about men so well and I'd like to believe that she'd captured their POV to a tee. If I don't know who she is, I'd think that she's a dude!

If you are a Ward fan and haven't started Fallen Angels then you better haul some serious a$$ and start reading because the story is getting better each time. ENVY was worth the hype and I hardly reread books immediately but I think I'll make an exception for this one.

5 comments:

Oh I can't read this review yet as I have first 2 books in series to read. Yes, I actualy haven't started this series yet...ha!! I knew Envy was coming out and I did request from publisher, so fingers crossed.

Sorry I thought I was following you, but * sheepish* I wasn't I am now.

Thanks Michelle! You have to read it and I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts.

Yup love Isla Fisher and Pink was just a tongue in cheek sort of thing though she has that devil may care attitude, the build (barely there boobs) and the hair, too bad she doesn't act and she's not tall lol.

"J.R. Ward just writes about men so well and I'd like to believe that she'd captured their POV to a tee. If I don't know who she is, I'd think that she's a dude!"

I actually introduced to "The Warden" through her Fallen Angel series. I was captured ever since and can't seem to let go. I was very surprise to learn that the author was indeed a woman! What's more deceiving is her image, it sooo clashes with the language she uses to write her stories...I love it! lol